A new genus and associated species of false vampire, family Megadermatidae, are described based on three specimens from Bala Forest, Narathiwat Province, peninsular Thailand. The new taxon is characterised by a unique combination of distinctive dental, cranial, and external characters, some of which are shared with exclusively African genera and some with Asian genera. These characters are comparable to, or exceed in number, those differentiating currently recognised genera in the family Megadermatidae. They include the absence of a first upper premolar; greatly enlarged upper canine without an anterolingual cingular cusp but with a robust posterolingual cusp; unmodified upper first molar with the preparacrista subequal in length to the postmetacrista, the metastyle not reduced and situated labially; robust lower canine without an anterolingual cusp; the first lower premolar enlarged, equal to or larger than the second lower premolar. In the skull, there is a pronounced rostral depression but no well developed frontal shield with preorbital and/or postorbital processes; the coronoid process is greatly enlarged in each half mandible. Externally, the body size is relatively large and the posterior noseleaf is rounded. The baculum has a robust shaft and two short prongs—the bacula of all five other species of megadermatid are illustrated for the first time; extraordinarily, those of Macroderma gigas and Megaderma lyra comprise two separate bones. DNA barcoding indicate a genetic divergence of about 20 percent (sequence divergence in the mitochondrial gene CO1) between the new genus and species of Megaderma and Cardioderma. Currently, despite numerous bat surveys in peninsular Thailand, the new genus is only known from Bala Forest. The small area of this forest and the very low capture rate suggest that the new species may be extremely rare. Its natural history is little known, although its robust dental and cranial features when coupled with chance observations of its feeding behaviour, suggest it may specialise in eating large beetles. Its conservation status is considered to be at risk owing to the rapid loss of forest habitat in much of the Thai-Malay peninsula.

Etymology. The species thongareeae is named in honour of Ms Siriporn Thongaree, the former head of
Halabala Wildlife Research Station [HalaBalaWRS], who dedicated her life to researching the diversity and ecology of wildlife in
the southernmost part of Thailand and to promoting its conservation. The proposed English name is “Thongaree’s
Disc-nosed Bat”.

......

The relationship of M. spasma and M. lyra remains unresolved. Genetic data included here (Fig. 11), the extraordinary differences in the baculum (Fig. 9), and differences in the dentition and skull support the view that M. lyra is generically discrete from M. spasma. However, in view of the contradictory interpretations presented by Hand (1985) and Griffiths et al. (1992), discussed above, and the weak bootstrap support for the deeper branches in our phylogeny (Fig. 11), we prefer to leave this particular issue for a further study. Additional genetic data, incorporating nuclear genes with slower evolutionary change, may help to resolve the phylogeny. On the basis of data presented here, it is not possible to place the newly discovered megadermatid from peninsular Thailand into any one of the five previously recognised genera, including the sympatric Megaderma. As noted above, it has a unique combination of characters, incorporating features, some of which are found exclusively in African genera and others in Asian genera. These differences are supported by genetic data. Therefore, we have attributed the new species thongareeae to a new genus Eudiscoderma.

Hand (1995) suggested that where megadermatids live sympatrically over part of their range, they are either significantly different in size (Megaderma spasma v M. lyra) or represent two distinct lineages (L. frons v C. cor). She also suggested that the latter species in each of these pairs consumes significantly more vertebrate prey than the other. In the case of Eudiscoderma, it is both larger and phylogenetically distinct from M. spasma and may have a more specialised diet. M. spasma is known to eat large flying insects, such as grasshoppers, moths, bush-crickets, and beetles but not vertebrates (Bates & Harrison 1997). In contrast, Eudiscoderma has features, that appear highly developed for crushing hard prey. In the dentition, this includes the robust upper canines and, in the skull, the enlarged coronoid processes and well developed sagittal crest, both of which are indicative of strong musculature.

These adaptations sit well with information on the diet. E. thongareeae was observed catching and eating beetles, the carapaces of which are made from chitin, one of the hardest of natural materials.

A new genus and new species of the Old World false vampire bat (family Megadermatidae) is described based on specimens from Halabala Wildlife Research Station, the southernmost forest complex in peninsular Thailand. The paper reporting this discovery is published in the latest issue of Zootaxa.

The new bat, with a scientific name Eudiscoderma thongareeae, is named to reflect its disc-shaped noseleaf and to honor Ms Siriporn Thongaree, former head of Halabala Wildlife Research Station.

The species is believed to be very rare as it is known from only 3 specimens collected during the last 15 years from a very small area around the wildlife research station. It was initially suspected to be just a new species of the well-known Megaderma which is the common genus in the area. However, after a comparison to specimens of other known genera of the family in natural history museums, it turns out that it cannot be assigned to any existing genera.

“It seems the new genus is the evolutionary link, as it shares characters with both Asian (Megaderma) and African (Lavia and Cardioderma) genera. And we have a plan to continue studying more in details of the phylogeography of this interesting family. It is a very rare bat - but we believe that it is very likely to be found in peninsular Malaysia too” said Dr. Pipat Soisook, [PSUNHM], Prince of Songkla University, the senior author of the paper.

Although there are groups of scientist have been working actively in Southeast Asia, the find of this new bat suggests that there are more species out there, particularly in forest habitats, in the region to be discovered.

“This is a fantastic discovery. To find a new genus of mammal is extraordinarily rare. After over 250 years of research there are only 202 bat genera known worldwide and only 43 recorded from Thailand. It represents Thailand's only endemic genus of bat and only its third endemic bat species. PSU team has done a brilliant piece of scientific detective work to discover and describe this fascinating new bat” said Dr. Paul Bates, Harrison Institute, a co-author of the paper.

Desmoxytes rhinoceros (Top) is found in southern Laos, whereas D. rhinoparva (Bottom) is from northern Laos

(Credit: Animal Systematics Research Unit, Chulalongkorn University)

Abstract

Two new species of Desmoxytes are described and abundantly illustrated:D. rhinoceros sp. n. and D. rhinoparva sp. n., from southern and northern Laos, respectively. Illustrated redescriptions of all four Vietnamese Desmoxytes species proposed by Carl Attems are also provided, based on type material.

Type locality: Koh Kra, about 30 km off the east coast of Pak Phanang, Nakhon Srithammarat in the Gulf of Thailand

Etymology: The specific epithet is derived from the Latin “principalis” meaning “leader” and refers to Her Royal Highness Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn who chaired the Plant Genetic Conservation Project as a Royal Initiation to support biodiversity in Thailand. The malacological survey on Koh Kra in 2000 was part of an expedition supported by this project.

Distribution: This new species is known only from the type locality.

Remarks: Amphidromus principalis Sutcharit & Panha, sp. n. is known only from the type locality, the granitic island. The forestation type on the island was dry evergreen forest, the snails were found crawling on the tree leaves, trunks or branches of almost all trees up to 10 m height. We also explored two other satellite islands but found no Amphidromus on these islands or any other terrestrial snails other than subulinids.

Figure 2. Skin texture variation in one individual frog (Pristimantis mutabilis) from Reserva Las Gralarias (Pichincha, Ecuador). Note that skin texture shifts from highly tubercular to almost smooth; also, note the relative size of tubercles on the eyelid, lower lip, and limbs. The frog was found on a leaf during the night (left photograph) and photographed in the laboratory (photograph with white background) the following morning.

We describe a new frog,Pristimantis mutabilis sp. nov., from the Andes of Ecuador. Individuals of the new species are remarkable for their ability to change skin texture from tuberculate to almost smooth in a few minutes, being the first documented amphibian species to show such dramatic phenotypic plasticity. The new taxon is assigned to the P. myersi group. It differs from other members of its group by body size (adult males 17.2–17.4 mm; adult females 20.9–23.2 mm), arboreal habitat, and red flash coloration in females. We document three call types for the new species, which differ through their number of notes and amplitude peaks. The three types are pulsed calls that share a dominant frequency of 3186.9–3445.3 Hz. Surprisingly, we also document similar skin texture plasticity in species (P. sobetes) from a different species group, suggesting that this ability might be more common than previously thought. The discovery of these variable species poses challenges to amphibian taxonomists and field biologists, who have traditionally used skin texture and presence/absence of tubercles as important discrete traits in diagnosing and identifying species. Reciprocal monophyly and genetic distances also support the validity of the new species, as it has distances of 15.1–16.3% (12S) and 16.4–18.6% (16S) from the most similar species, Pristimantis verecundus. Additionally, each of the two known populations of Pristimantis mutabilis are reciprocally monophyletic and exhibit a high genetic distance between them (5.0–6.5%). This pattern is best explained by the presence of a dry valley (Guayllabamba River) that seems to be acting as a dispersal barrier.

Durga Das’s leaf-nosed bat Hipposideros durgadasi Khajuria, 1970 is endemic to India, and was known only from Katanga, Katangi, and Richhai villages, in Jabalpur district, Madhya Pradesh. During surveys conducted in Kolar district, Karnataka, India, we successfully mist-netted a few individuals belonging to the bicolor species group which, upon detailed external, craniodental and bacular studies were identified as Durga Das’s leaf-nosed bat. This paper reports the presence of this species in southern India, extending its distribution range by almost 1300 km. We also provide a detailed morphological description for this species.

We provide a revision of microhylid treefrogs of the genus Cophyla, the type genus of the subfamily Cophylinae. A phylogeny inferred from DNA sequences of multiple mitochondrial and nuclear genes, with representatives of all cophyline genera except Madecassophryne and including representatives of the two most divergent intrageneric lineages within Cophyla, placed Cophyla as sister group of Platypelis and confirmed both genera as reciprocally monophyletic. We describe three new Cophyla species based on osteological, morphological and bioacoustic characters as well as genetic differentiation in one nuclear and several mitochondrial markers. As in the vast majority of cophylines, all species of Cophyla emit long, stereotyped repetitions of a single tonal note, and we here consider one of these notes as a call; call duration thus equals note duration and the intervals between calls are named inter-call intervals. Cophyla maharipeo sp. nov. collected in Joffreville and Forêt d’Ambre Special Reserve (adult SVL 22–27 mm) is characterized by having long calls (1166–1346 ms) with long inter-call intervals (2154–3881 ms).Cophyla noromalalae sp. nov. collected in Montagne d’Ambre National Park (adult SVL 22–29 mm) is characterized by having short calls (662–821 ms) and short inter-call intervals (874–1882 ms). Cophyla puellarum sp. nov., also from Montagne d’Ambre National Park, is larger than the other two species (adult SVL 27.3–33.6 mm) and characterized by the shortest calls (326–390 ms) and long inter-call intervals (1961–3996 ms). Osteological analyses based on micro-CT scans and cleared and stained specimens confirms that the shape of the posterior vomer (centrally divided vs. undivided) may be a useful character to diagnose most species as belonging to either Platypelis and Cophyla, and suggest the absence of clavicles (present in Platypelis) is a derived character of most Cophyla. However, clavicles were present in C. puellarum, the only known Cophyla occurring at relatively high elevations (1250–1300 m a.s.l.) while otherwise in northern Madagascar, forests at higher elevations up to 2700 m a.s.l. are occupied by Platypelis species. Cophyla maharipeo was found at relatively low elevations (630–720 m a.s.l.), similar to the three previously known congeners (C. berara, C. occultans, C. phyllodactyla). Cophyla noromalalae occurs at intermediate elevations (900–1050 m a.s.l.). The molecular phylogeny inferred herein suggests that the ancestor of a clade containing all Cophyla species except C. puellarum evolved a modified shoulder girdle structure without ossified clavicles, and adapted to low-elevation habitats.

Pareatidae are a group of mollusc-eating snakes widely distributed in Southeastern Asia. Due to their dietary specialization, the asymmetric dentition of pareatids has recently become an interesting issue in evolutionary biology. However, phylogenetic relationships and species diversity of pareatids are still poorly studied. A total of three Pareas species, P. formosanus (Van Denburgh 1909), P. compressus (Oshima 1910) and P. komaii (Maki 1931), have been reported for Taiwan. However, only P. formosanus is currently regarded as a valid species. Using mitochondrial sequence phylogeny, nuclear c-mos haplotype network, as well as multivariate morphometrics, we re-evaluated the taxonomic status of Pareas from Taiwan, the Ryukyus and adjacent regions. These lines of evidence showed congruent results for the coexistence of three Pareas species in Taiwan, with prominent genetic and morphological differentiation and differing level of dentition asymmetry. The currently used name P. formosanus should be applied only to the snakes with red iris, comparatively short lower jaw and totally smooth dorsal scales. An examination of the type material indicated that the name P. compressus should be regarded as a junior synonym of P. formosensis sensu stricto. Pareas komaii (Oshima 1910) is confirmed as a valid taxon with yellow iris, elongated lower jaw and strongly keeled dorsals. The third clade is characterized by a yellow iris, elongated lower jaw and weakly keeled dorsals. Despite their sympatric occurrence, every examined individual showed consistent grouping from mitochondrial, nuclear and morphological markers, indicating there is no gene flow among these three clades. Here, we describe the third clade as a new specie, Pareas atayal sp. nov.

Etymology: The new species is named with reference to its distribution which is similar to the native Taiwan aboriginal people, the Atayal, inhabiting mountain regions of northern Taiwan. Common name in English: ‘Atayal Slug-eating Snake’.

Triassic predatory guild evolution reflects a period of ecological flux spurred by the catastrophic end-Permian mass extinction and terminating with the global ecological dominance of dinosaurs in the early Jurassic. In responding to this dynamic ecospace, terrestrial predator diversity attained new levels, prompting unique trophic webs with a seeming overabundance of carnivorous taxa and the evolution of entirely new predatory clades. Key among these was Crocodylomorpha, the largest living reptiles and only one of two archosaurian lineages that survive to the present day. In contrast to their existing role as top, semi-aquatic predators, the earliest crocodylomorphs were generally small-bodied, terrestrial faunivores, occupying subsidiary (meso) predator roles. Here we describe Carnufex carolinensis a new, unexpectedly large-bodied taxon with a slender and ornamented skull from the Carnian Pekin Formation (~231 Ma), representing one of the oldest and earliest diverging crocodylomorphs described to date. Carnufex bridges a problematic gap in the early evolution of pseudosuchians by spanning key transitions in bauplan evolution and body mass near the origin of Crocodylomorpha. With a skull length of >50 cm, the new taxon documents a rare instance of crocodylomorphs ascending to top-tier predator guilds in the equatorial regions of Pangea prior to the dominance of dinosaurs.

Friday, March 20, 2015

The South American native ungulate Macrauchenia patachonica may have had a mobile proboscis, as pictured here.

Illustration: Peter Schouten

No large group of recently extinct placental mammals remains as evolutionarily cryptic as the approximately 280 genera grouped as ‘South American native ungulates’. To Charles Darwin, who first collected their remains, they included perhaps the ‘strangest animal[s] ever discovered’. Today, much like 180 years ago, it is no clearer whether they had one origin or several, arose before or after the Cretaceous/Palaeogene transition 66.2 million years ago, or are more likely to belong with the elephants and sirenians of superorder Afrotheria than with the euungulates (cattle, horses, and allies) of superorder Laurasiatheria. Morphology-based analyses have proved unconvincing because convergences are pervasive among unrelated ungulate-like placentals. Approaches using ancient DNA have also been unsuccessful, probably because of rapid DNA degradation in semitropical and temperate deposits. Here we apply proteomic analysis to screen bone samples of the Late Quaternary South American native ungulate taxa Toxodon (Notoungulata) and Macrauchenia (Litopterna) for phylogenetically informative protein sequences. For each ungulate, we obtain approximately 90% direct sequence coverage of type I collagen α1- and α2-chains, representing approximately 900 of 1,140 amino-acid residues for each subunit. A phylogeny is estimated from an alignment of these fossil sequences with collagen (I) gene transcripts from available mammalian genomes or mass spectrometrically derived sequence data obtained for this study. The resulting consensus tree agrees well with recent higher-level mammalian phylogenies. Toxodon and Macrauchenia form a monophyletic group whose sister taxon is not Afrotheria or any of its constituent clades as recently claimed, but instead crown Perissodactyla (horses, tapirs, and rhinoceroses). These results are consistent with the origin of at least some South American native ungulates from ‘condylarths’, a paraphyletic assembly of archaic placentals. With ongoing improvements in instrumentation and analytical procedures, proteomics may produce a revolution in systematics such as that achieved by genomics, but with the possibility of reaching much further back in time.

DNA barcoding was used to investigate dietary habits and prey selection in members of the African-endemic family Distichodontidae noteworthy for displaying highly specialized ectoparasitic fin-eating behaviors (pterygophagy). Fin fragments recovered from the stomachs of representatives of three putatively pterygophagous distichodontid genera (Phago, Eugnathichthys, and Ichthyborus) were sequenced for the mitochondrial gene co1. DNA barcodes (co1 sequences) were then used to identify prey items in order to determine whether pterygophagous distichodontids are opportunistic generalists or strict specialists with regard to prey selection and, whether as previously proposed, aggressive mimicry is used as a strategy for successful pterygophagy. Our findings do not support the hypothesis of aggressive mimicry suggesting instead that, despite the possession of highly specialized trophic anatomies, fin-eating distichodontids are opportunistic generalists, preying on fishes from a wide phylogenetic spectrum and to the extent of engaging in cannibalism. This study demonstrates how DNA barcoding can be used to shed light on evolutionary and ecological aspects of highly specialized ectoparasitic fin-eating behaviors by enabling the identification of prey species from small pieces of fins found in fish stomachs.

A new species of Rhacophorus from the eastern slope of Gunung Kinabalu (Sabah, North Borneo) is described. It is similar to, and has previously been confused with, R. gauni, but differs from it by length and shape of head, less extensive webbing between fingers and toes, presence of vomerine ridges and teeth, absence of a pointed tubercle on the upper eyelid, relatively larger interorbital width, and a smaller thenar tubercle. Characteristics of the advertisement call and ecological data are provided.

Monday, March 16, 2015

Figure 2. Molecular phylogenetic estimate of major ceratobatrachid relationships based on maximum likelihood analysis of two mitochondrial gene partitions (12S–16S) and three nuclear genes (proopiomelanocortin, recombinase activating gene 1, and tyrosinase; 11-partition model: Table 2). Maximum likelihood bootstrap and Bayesian posterior probability values are included. Boxed letters denoting selected nodes of interest are discussed in the text. Node B is Ceratobatrachidae. As illustrated, the tree is unrooted, and to save space the outgroups (Node A) are shown as if they form a clade, which they do not. The root of the tree lies on the branch between Kaloula and all other taxa. Photographs of selected species are included (approximately to scale), with current taxonomy summarized at tree tips (compare with revised taxonomy, summarized in Fig. 3). Nodal support: black dots ≥ 0.95 and ≥ 70 maximum likelihood bootstrap support (MLBS); grey dots ≥ 0.75, posterior probabilities (PP) ≤ 0.95, and ≥ 50 MLBS ≤ 70. Support values provided (as MLBS/PP) for weakly supported nodes and nodes with disparate levels of support between analyses.

We present a near comprehensive, densely sampled, multilocus phylogenetic estimate of species relationships within the anuran family Ceratobatrachidae, a morphologically and ecologically diverse group of frogs from the island archipelagos of Southeast Asia and the South-West Pacific. Ceratobatrachid frogs consist of three clades: a small clade of enigmatic, primarily high-elevation, semi-aquatic Sundaland species currently assigned to Ingerana (for which we erect a new genus), which is the sister taxon of two large, monophyletic radiations, each situated on islands on either side of Wallace's Line. One radiation is composed of Philippine species of Platymantis and the other contains all taxa from the eastern Indonesian, New Guinean, Solomon, Bismarck, and Fijian archipelagos. Several additional genera (Batrachylodes, Discodeles, Ceratobatrachus, and Palmatorappia) are nested within Platymantis, and of these Batrachylodes and Discodeles are nonmonophyletic. To address the widespread paraphyly of the genus Platymantis and several additional nomenclatural issues, we undertook a wholesale nomenclatural reorganization of the family. Given our partially unresolved phylogeny, and in order to impart a conservative, stable taxonomy, involving a minimal number of genus-species couplet changes, we propose a conservative classification representing a few compromises. These changes are designed to preserve maximally the presumed original intent of taxonomy (widely used group names associated with morphological and ecological diversity of particular species or groups of species) while implementing a hierarchical system that is consistent with the estimate of phylogeny based on new molecular data.

The Central African house snake Boaedon olivaceus has a large distribution from the forests of West Africa to Mabira Forest in Uganda. We sequenced two mitochondrial (cyt b and ND4) and two nuclear (c-mos and RAG1) genes from several populations of B. olivaceus in Central Africa and recovered two highly divergent lineages (Congo Basin and Albertine Rift) attributable to this species. Dating analyses with BEAST suggest the two lineages last shared a common ancestor during the mid-Miocene approximately 12 million years ago, and data from RAG1 showed consistent differences in two amino acids for topotypic Congo Basin B. olivaceus compared to the Albertine Rift lineage and all other examined species of Boaedon. Based on these striking molecular differences and significant differences in ventral scale counts and the number of supralabials contacting the eye, we describe the Albertine Rift lineage as a new species. The recognition of this new species bolsters the importance of the Albertine Rift as an important region for endemism and conservation in continental Africa. Based on the results of our phylogenetic analyses, the poorly known taxon Lycodonomorphus subtaeniatus upembae is elevated to full species status and transferred to the genus Boaedon.

Key words: Central Africa, house snake, montane, endemism

Radford's House Snake Boaedon radfordi,
was discovered in the mountains along the Albertine Rift in central Africa